1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to child support and securement devices, and in particular, to a device for attachment to a conventional shopping carts for securing, supporting and protecting children.
2. Description of Related Art
Carts, such as conventional shopping carts for storing, conveying or transporting groceries or other products are known in the art to comprise a basket rigidly connected to a frame supported by two front swivel caster wheels and two rear caster wheels and the frame forms a handle at an upper, rear extremity of the cart. Conventional shopping carts usually have a collapsible child seat near the handle of the cart, suitable for only a single child and often inadequately designed for a child weighing more than 35 pounds. Placement of children in these conventional seats alters the center of gravity of the cart, thereby making the carts, especially with an empty basket, susceptible to tipping. Injuries resulting form use of these existing child seats are well documented and known in the art. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,326 B1 to Reiland et al., cols. 1 and 2; see also, Consumer Product Safety Alert from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner, March 1990, which are both hereby incorporated by reference). As a result of the documented shortcomings of the conventional cart there have been various attempts at creating child support attachments and/or redesigning the conventional carts without the level of success that will be evident in the present invention.
In various U.S. patents to Reiland, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,326, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,031, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,021, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,548, which is now abandoned; and Des. Pat. No. D357,105) several attempts were made to find an “economically viable solution to child injuries needs while utilizing the existing inventory of carts, without significantly reducing the overall functionality of the carts.” The “child carrier” of these designs includes a platform supported by at least one caster, at least one seat area, and a restraining device for each seat, such as a seat belt, to hold the child in place. The carrier is rigidly attached to the rear portion of the cart. However, these designs have their flaws to which the present invention turns its attention. While in the Reiland child seat, children are in proximate range of the upper rear extremity of the cart basket and are not necessarily facing away from the basket, therefore, they have visual and potentially physical access to items placed in the rear and upper portions of the cart. Furthermore, these carriers are not stackable or nestable along a horizontal axis, making them difficult for shopkeepers to store or retrieve from the store and/or parking lot after use. These designs fail to address the advantages associated with a nestable attachment, specifically, a shopkeeper can move several carriers in unison by interlocking them together along their horizontal axis. Also, these carriers are rigidly attached to the cart with a nut and bolt arrangement making the cart and child carrier accessory an integral unit and therefore are not easily removable from one another. This requires a shopkeeper to designate a certain number of an inventory of conventional carts to use as integrated child carriers. These carts are then not nestable and are undesirable to shoppers not accompanied by small children.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,238 to Reiland et al. depicts a passenger carrier attached to a cart in the form of a nesting, attachable apparatus having a seat that includes an upper portion in a first position that can be displaced to a second position to form an opening sized to receive a front portion of another cart basket in a nested configuration. This device also seats a child in proximate range of the upper rear extremity of the cart basket and thus is not necessarily facing away from the basket. Therefore, the child has visual and potentially physical access to items placed in the rear and upper portions of the cart. A more significant shortcoming of this design is that substantial space between the cart and the attachment apparatus is required to accommodate the displacement of the upper portion from the first to the second position when nesting. This additional length associated with this attachment significantly reduces the functionality of a cart because it places the cart basket out of a user's arms reach when pushing the cart from the rear handle. Thus, in order to select items and place them in the cart basket, one must walk away from the cart and the child in the attached seat, obtain an item, walk to the basket, deposit the item and then return to the rear again in order to push the cart. Furthermore, the apparatus is bolted to the cart creating an apparatus that is not easily detachable carrying the same disadvantages as discussed above. Also, the attachment lacks entertainment value to children.
Other attempts at modifying the child seat accommodations of conventional shopping carts have resulted in complete redesigns and abandonment of the conventional shopping cart. One such prior apparatus is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,924 to Reiland et al. which shows a compete redesign of the size, dimensions and configuration of the cart's basket to incorporate child seating within the center basket area as opposed to the conventionally oriented rear seating. While this cart is nestable, it fails to meet the child seating needs for shopping centers having an inventory of conventionally designed carts because these devices require replacement of existing, conventional carts to obtain the benefits of their child seating capabilities.
For at least the same reason, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,210 to Lamnberecht fails to meet the child seating needs for shopping centers because it shows an attachable shell designed to accommodate only a particular cart design and not the standard, conventional shopping cart. The cart has a shallow basket supported by an upper frame and a large gap between the upper frame and a lower frame sized to accommodate a child's torso and head. The shell is slid over the lower frame and rests completely thereon underneath the basket. The shell includes a seat for locating a child directly below the upper basket of the cart and may be shaped as a race car or other such entertaining shape. This design is not adaptable to the conventional cart design because there is not enough room to safely place a child underneath the basket on a conventional cart. Therefore, in order to adopt the Lamnberecht design, a shopkeeper must abandon the use of conventional carts for a modified cart that is atypical of carts typically used in grocery stores.
Another apparatus having entertainment value for children also resulted in a redesigned cart. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,817 to McCue et al the disclosed apparatus is a redesigned shopping cart having a child supporting apparatus and storage compartment. The device described incorporates a shopping basket in a supporting structure, for example, shaped like an automobile, and thereby is a complete redesign of a shopping cart and is not adaptable to conventional shopping carts.